Thanks to all who came to today's stewards meeting. Great attendance, great discussions, great group wisdom (and a few not-bad jokes). The unit officers deeply appreciate your support. People are being thoughtful and sticking together as we face the unknown, and it's good to see.

As Avista takes ownership of the Star Tribune (most probably on Monday), the next few months will be a time of great transition and some anxiety and frustration.  With some members opting for contractual buyouts and management saying it doesn't plan to fill empty positions, we suspect that many of our working conditions could be compromised -- a perfect storm of work speed-up, work reassignments and unrealistic work expectations.

Whatever challenges lie ahead, we want to remind our members that Guild officers and stewards are here for you. If you find yourself or your department compromised by any of these conditions, you don't have to go it alone.  If a coworker's sudden departure means double duty for you, notify an officer or steward and we will go to bat for you.

One thing to remember: We can't stop management from requiring you to work overtime, but, if you are asked to work overtime, FILE FOR OVERTIME. And if you're asked to do an amount of work no reasonable human being could get done within eight hours, warn your supervisor that you'll either need overtime or that some part of your tasks will have to go. Do not blog, write, photograph, design or edit for free.

Many members have expressed concerns (as well as enthusiasm) about iincreasing demands for breaking news online and producing multimedia. It is our goal to get in front of these issues and protect our members from management's more unrealistic expectations. We're looking for volunteers to serve on a task force that would advise officers in raising concerns and suggestions in a forward-looking way to management. Please let Jaime Chismar (jchismar@startribune.com) know if you are interested.

We also got 3 volunteers to help plan a retirement party for departing guild folks for sometime in april, but could use more. Contact Pam Miller for more details (pmiller@startribune.com)

-- Your Unit Officers